1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to performance analysis and prediction of a communication network and, more specifically, to wireless network performance modeling.
2. Description
A communication network may be represented by different layers such as physical layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer, and application layer. At the bottom of these layers is the physical layer which is the actual hardware used for data transmission. A physical layer of a communication network, especially a wireless network, allows a choice from many different modulation and coding schemes that could be used for data transmission over a channel (e.g., a wireless medium). The physical layer performance depends on the modulation and coding scheme chosen for data transmission at a given condition of the channel (e.g., signal to interference plus noise ratio (“SINR”)). The physical layer performance may be represented by its throughput. Given the myriad of choices of modulation and coding schemes, it is typically difficult to predict an approximate value of the expected physical layer throughput for a given channel condition. Traditionally, the current choice of the modulation and coding scheme (“MCS”) is used to reflect the instantaneous physical layer throughput. As channel conditions dynamically change causing the SINR to change, the current choice of the MCS is not a true reflection of expected physical layer throughput for the given channel conditions. There are fine-grain fluctuations in performance due to link adaptation, and there are also coarse-grain variations in the overall perceived throughput as channel conditions vary. Thus, it is desirable to have the ability to model, and predict variations in throughput as a function of varying channel conditions. In this regard, it is desirable to have an analytic expression for the physical layer throughput as a function of the SINR to provide a more accurate estimate of the expected physical layer throughput based on current channel conditions.